problematic Eden

Photo by Sonny Sixteen on Pexels

a snake emerges
from a curtain of flames
black forked tongue
hissing amidst
the crackling blaze
the immediate sense
is that this creature
is evil, the symbol of sin,
treachery incarnate,
responsible for
the fall of man, so sly
as to slither its
charming graces
by the first daughter
of god, herself —
but unbeknownst
to them,
the serpent was
just a fucked up
creation, not unlike
the rest of us,
stomped on
and hunted, tortured
and tricked…